Overnight Field Trip

Centre Meeting, take by author with permission

I spent four days in a division of Bangladesh that was closer to the countries of Nepal and Bhutan than the City of Dhaka. Rajshahi, Bangladesh was the destination early Saturday morning. The drive was as always crazy, with cars playing chicken with one another, and busses passing other vehicles in fast speed and cutting it close. After about 6 hours on the road, myself, a young woman from China and Germany along with the translator arrived at the Grameen Bank Branch Office we were to spend five days at. It later turned out that we needed to leave early, because of strikes, two years before the next election, in Dhaka, Wednesday and Thursday. Strikes here, means that violence can occur and cars burnt.

Dispursement at Branch Office
Taken with permission by author

We visited two centre meetings, had 5 exclusive interviews with five different women, an interview with a scholarship recipient for her singing, a female higher education loanee who studies philosophy and a struggling member. In addition we got to see the dispursment of money, meeting at the Area Office and visit from the Zonal Manager.
Capital Empowers Women 
My overall impression is that women are empowered through having capital. Some of the women in a centre meeting said that money brought them honor, and that their husband must come to them for money. In addition, they all indicated that they eat meals together with the family. It used to be more common that the women would eat when everyone else in the family had had enough, if there was anything left for her. Most of the younger female members usually only had two children, and it was more often that the older members had more. This indicates that the 16 decision, of having less children has impacted the women.
The Picture to the b is of the loan recording book, I got to fill one in, just like the Centre Manager does. 

Education 
All the women said they want their children to complete higher education. "As a mother I dream. Is there any mother who does not want their children to go to school", said one of the women we interviewed exclusively, in a colorful Sari with pinks, yellow, orange and some red. To the question "what do you want your children to study", the women always replied the same: what they want to study. I'm thinking it can have something to do with that the value of education itself is so important that what someone studies might not be as important as the higher education. Perhaps this reply can be connected with that the mothers don't know what their children can study, but then again, I think they know more than we think they do. In one instance a woman who's husband left her, her son stopped attending school after 5th grade. She said he was spoiled, and had bad friends. This made me wonder what position the husbands plays in sending the children to school.

The Indications of the Number of Saris 
Some of the women had no Saris, or maybe just one before becoming a Grameen Bank Borrower. Now, they have many. A woman stood up in the very back of a centre meeting of about 58 members, and said she used to have no saris, she had to borrow clothing before. Another woman we interviewed had 3 or four Saris before, now she has 5 for fine use, for visiting family, and 3-4 for normal use. After being a member for 8 years, one woman we interviewed have 6 or 7. Before she had only 3 saris. A new member, in a colorful sari, that reminds me of a rainbow, said she only have one Sari, the one she was wearing. I wonder how many Saris she will have after she starts her timber business with her first GB loan. As the number shows, when becoming a Grameen Bank borrower, the women can afford more clothing. The number of saris, or clothing, is a clear way of showing that the women are better off now.

I learned a lot, by talking with the women personally, and seeing in the improvements in their lives with my own eyes. I enjoyed being out in the field, in the peaceful villages.

Pass the Peace.